Georg heinrich carl brunswig



(No Model.) I

G. H. O. BRUNSWIG.

LIFE BUOY. v

No. 564,778. Pat ented July 28, 1896.

MW g

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORG HEINRICH CARL BRUN SWIG, OF HAMBURG, GERMANY.

LlFE-BUOY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 564,778, dated July 28,1896.

Application filed September 6, 1895. Serial No. 561,625- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, GEORG HEINRICH CARL BRUNSWIG, a citizen of Germany,residing at Hamburg, Germany, have invented new and useful Improvementsin Life-Buoys, of which the following is a specification.

The life-buoys used at life-saving stations and on board of ship can, onaccount of their closed ring form, fulfil their purpose only to a verysmall extent, as it is very seldom that a person in danger of drowning,unless able to swim, can so get into the lifebuoy thrown to him that itwill support him even to the extent of merely keeping his head abovewater. Seizing the floating buoy at one side causes it to tilt, andconsequently drowning often' ensues before help can be rendered. It hasbeen attempted by means of life-belts, life-saving Waistcoats, &c.-, toproduce efficient life-saving auxiliaries; but these cannot be thrownwell, and in the water afford no hold on account of their greatflexibility. Such drawbacks are entirely obviated by my invention, twoforms of which are shown in the accompanying drawings.

Figures 1 and 2 are respectively a plan and a side elevation of one ofthem, and Fig. 3 a plan of the other. i

A life-buoy according to my invention consists of two or more part ringsa b c, that are connected with one another in a flexible manner and thefree-ends of which are or may be provided with fastening means, such asa strap and buckle e c, Fig. 1, or a crosspiece or hook and eye ff, Fig.3.

The life -buoy is made, in the simplest manner, of an annularly-benttube of waterproof material, which is self -sustaining to form apermanently open ring, filled with reindeer-hair, cork, or similarbuoyant substance and closed at both ends. In the middle,or at two ormore places, the tube is sewed through, so as to produce two (Fig. l) ormore (Fig. 3) part rings. The contracted parts a of the tube thusseparated by sewing possess at these seams a certain flexibility andelasticity, which, however, may, if preferred, be produced by sewing orotherwise flexibly connecting together two or more closed straight orbent flexible tubes. Around are attached by surrounding straps d thehand cords or ropes d, which render it more easy to catch hold of thebuoy when it is floating. The closing means-straps, crosspieces, or thelikeprovided on the free ends of'the terminal parts a and I) come intouse only when a person jumps overboard. The life-buoy is thrown to aperson in the water in an open state, and such person can pass it withfacility into the ring form and put his or her arms over it on theoutside or draw the buoy under his or her arms.

As the buoy always has a tendency to fit closely against the body, it isnot necessary, as practical trials have shown, that its ends should befastened together.

The essence of my invention resides in providing a life-buoy of sectionscurved in-' wardly and united by hinges or connections which will permitsaid sections to move in and out in the plane in which they are curved,but will tend to restrain movement up or down out of the plane ofcurvature. The utility of this construction resides in the factthat,wl1en the life-buoy is thrown upon the water the hinge orconnection must of necessity assume a vertical position. Thus thesections canreadily be moved in or out on the top of the water to permita person inserting himself thereinto. Moreover, since the life-buoy isinflexible, so far as vibration about a horizontal axis is concerned,its only vibration being about a vertical axis,it will have the samesustaining power as an inflexible life-buoy. I am aware thatlife-preservers have been made of sections hinged together so as tovibrate only in one plane, but said sections are not curved inwardly inthe plane in which they vibrate. Hence when thrown onto the water theywill extend flat and the hinge or connection will assume a horizontalposition. I am also aware that life-preservers have been made of curvedsections loosely joined together by ropes, but this construction is notsuitable for a lifebuoy, for said sections will not assume a suitableposition, when thrown, for passing around a persons body. Moreover, eachsection will sink independently of the other if pressed upon.

What I claim is- 1. A life-buoy comprising a plurality of sectionscurved inwardly toward each other 1 o tions, while restraining movementout of said plane, said sections, when brought-together at their freeends, forming a ring to support the person buoyed, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of 15 two subscribing witnesses.

GEORG HEINRICH CARL BRUNSWIG. W'itnesses WILHELM KooH, HEINRICH EGGERS.

